Closing Window
by Ramox3629
Summary: Harry has had enough of his life, dealing with his egotistical and malicious twin Thomas, the Boy-Who-Lived, and being ignored or insulted by his disenchanted parents, Harry looks for an out. But his window of opportunity is closing fast as his school years come to an end and his esteemed Headmaster shows more interest in him.
1. Chapter 1

Steam billowed around the majestic scarlet train, as students rushed about with their trunks, and parents said final goodbyes to their embarrassed children. Platform 9 ¾ was nearly full as the large clock overhanging proclaimed the time, 10:43 am. A blonde girl wove her way past laughing groups of boys and giggling girls to the final carriage of the train. Hauling her trunk up the steps, grumbling softly about needing a weightless charm. She looked around, seeing the compartments around her filling quickly, she dragged her trunk to the final compartment. Glancing in she could see a trunk placed upon the rack above the compartment seats, but no occupant, opening the door she stretched to try and get a glimpse of the name of person sharing the space. She was so focused she failed to notice the door opening again, nor the person behind her, so she was extremely shocked when a voice sprang up from behind her.

"Now why is it that you are poking around my compartment?"

The girl spun around, her hair flying around, almost whipping the boy behind her, if he hadn't casually lent out of the way.

"I… I…, I mean, no, I wasn't spying… I was just…" She stuttered out, as the boy raised an eyebrow at her.

She fell silent as the boy looked her over, before sitting down casually, his next question threw her,

"So what's your story newbie?"

"How did you…?" The girl started, looking surprised

"Simple", the boy gave her a slightly amused glance, "I've never seen you before, add in a new uniform with no house colours, you're new to Hogwarts, I'm guessing maybe, a half-blood or junior pure-blood?" He gave her a small smile, which the girl didn't return.

"You're awfully knowledgeable, for someone hiding in their, erh, _own compartment_. Pureblood are you?" The girl's pretty face had a slight look of distaste on her face. The boy didn't seem perturbed however,

"So which is it, half-blood or pureblood, for curiosity's sake?" The boy glanced at his nails, nonchalant as ever,

"How do you know I'm not a muggleborn?' The girl fired back

"A few things, firstly, your immediate response, a pureblood would have acted insulted by the insinuation that they weren't important, before trying to establish dominance of the conversation, a muggleborn would have been shocked but awed that I could establish their heritage. Also the fact that you where your uniform with discomfort, and disdain, you hate the restriction of conformity and obliviously miss the freedom of your own clothes, something a muggleborn would not exhibit, nor a pureblood, who are trained to never give away signals like that. So you're either a half-blood or a newish pureblood. Judging from that, I'd say that you were raised and schooled at home, with few restrictions, rather than having transferred from another magical school, however you obviously didn't lack for education, as you are now here for the final year or years of schooling. So again, taking out muggleborn, and most, older purebloods, who have legacies at schools. And yet, I'm going to have to go with junior pureblood, judging by the ease at which you fitted in on the train, you would have been around some magic environments before, something most home-schooled half-bloods do not."

The girl sat down, a slight look of awe upon her face, the boy smiled, genuinely for once,

"So know I know your story, now I need a name to put to a face,"

The girl gave a slightly hesitant laugh,

"Alright Mr Psychic, you're good, I'll give you that, I'm Alisha, and you are?"

The boy gave another smile, "Harry, Harry Potter." 

Alisha was enjoying her train trip, something she hadn't expected when she set out that morning, worries over fitting in and finding friends at the forefront of her mind, however it seemed that she had found one, although she hadn't made it smooth sailing, with her snooping, and then her reaction to her companion's name, something she really cringed at in hindsight,

"Potter! As in, Thomas Potter, _THE THOMAS POTTER,_ The Boy-Who-Lived? You're related to him? Wow!"

Harry instantly lost his smile, an ugly expression on his face, "Yeah, Thomas, my brother"

Alisha was a bit taken aback by the venom in Harry's voice, but she recovered quickly,

"Oh, I'm sorry, you must get that a lot, I can see how that would get annoying."

Harry gave her a look, and gave a grudging, "It's okay",

"So you know my story, what's yours?" Alisha was trying to make amends and they both knew it, but Harry obliged anyway,

"Alright, I'm the older brother of the magnificent _Boy-Who-Lived_ , not that you'd ever hear that ofcour-"

"Why not?" Alisha blurted out before she realised what she said,

Harry shook his head, "Because Thomas tells everyone that he is the older brother, and his parents never deny him anything"

Alisha hesitated, about to ask about his parents, but stopped, she didn't want to lose the only person she knew by being insensitive

"So, tell me about Hogwarts, what's it like?" Harry looked grateful that the conversation had shifted.

"Well, first you have to understand the houses, most of the school revolves around houses; classes, points, reputation, friends, enemies, hell, even the way that teachers treat you. All about houses."

Alisha looked surprised, "Really? You can't be friends with people from other houses? Why? That's so stupid!"

Harry gave a bitter laugh, "You've got to understand the stigma of the house, firstly there is Gryffindor, the house of the bold and the brave. Noble warriors who save the world! Next you have the Ravenclaws, bookworms, and knowledge-hoarders, those who would rather watch than participate. Next you have the Hufflepuffs, considered 'Duffers' by most people, because they are the house of loyalty, not the bravest, the smartest or the most powerful. Then finally you have the Slytherins, the sneaky, slimy, evil, baby-eating scum."

Alisha looked confused, "How come you hate the Slytherins? They can't all be bad."

Harry laughed long and hard at that, before giving Alisha an answer, "No, no, no, hah, no, ah, no, I am a Slytherin, but that's the point. In the grand scheme of wizarding prejudice, it is a grand battle between the golden Gryffindors, and the slimy Slytherins. All the other houses automatically assume that a Slytherin is evil."

"Well you haven't slit my throat yet, so I think I'm good for now." Alisha's eyes had a devious look in her eyes as she said that.

Harry gave a wry smile, "you know, I think I like you."

The train trip continued on without drama, with no-one coming to visit the reject Potter's compartment, leaving Alisha to wonder why none of Harry's friends had come to visit. She wasn't sure what to make of her new and only friend at Hogwarts. He was definitely handsome, with his windswept dark hair, pale complexion and vibrant green eyes, with a dark, mysterious vibe. He obviously knew what he talked about, there was no hesitation in his voice, and yet he seemed to be isolated from the rest of the world, after all, what kind of person hates their twin and refers to their own parents impersonally? Alisha was contemplating this when Harry suddenly jerked upright.

"I thought it wouldn't last"

"What would last?" asked Alisha, confused

"My dearest brother has finally decided to pay me a visit, his yearly tradition."

Harry's comment only added to her confusion before an idea came to her,

"You put an alarm ward on the corridor? But, why?"

Harry gave Alisha a long look before standing up and facing the door,

"I don't like to be caught off guard."

Just as Harry finished talking the door to the compartment was ripped open and two boys stood in the door.

"Found a whore to keep you company, have you know, _brother._ " Alisha looked up sharply at the pair, both with mops of bright red hair, with freckled faces and brown eyes, however the similarities stopped there. A victorious smirk covered the face of the speaker, who was significantly shorter and chubbier than his companion who was holding the door, laughing viciously at the comment.

Harry stepped forward, a wary expression on his face, "Get out Thomas, and take your pet Weasel with you."

"Don't insult my friend, you piece of useless shit" The smirk instantly changed to a sneer, as the second red head started forward, only to realise that Thomas was blocking the entrance.

"What's wrong Thomas? Don't like it when someone points out how much you enjoy getting your arse kicked by your lackey? Or does it go deeper? You boys getting more than friendly?"

Both boys faces flushed, their faces almost matching their hair.

"Why you mother-"

"Come here you-'

"I'm not fucking gay you-"

"Beat the little sh-"

Both boys tried to go through the door at the same time, and rebounded, bouncing off the frame and giving each other a quick glare, turning to face the door once more, stopping when they saw the wand pointing at them.

Harry's face was cold, but his tone was even colder, "Now fuck off Thomas, else I'll send both of you to the hospital wing, before the term even starts"

Eyes narrowed the two boys started to move away before Thomas gave a victorious smile, "50 points from Slytherin and a week of detentions. Each."

Alisha leapt up at that, "You can't do that, you're not a teacher"

"Head Boy", came the smug reply.

Surprisingly Harry just laughed, "The House Cup hasn't meant hippogriff shit in the last seven years, and despite what your father told you, Heads Boys and Girls can't give detentions without passing it through the Head of House. And we both know what Snape will do when he hears of this. So honourable Head Boy, threaten us with something real or get out, your pissing me off."

With a final glare Thomas walked off, and Harry shut the compartment and sat down, a sigh escaping his lips.

"So you got to meet the wonderful Boy-Who-Lived, huh."

"But he's nothing like what the Daily Prophet says!"

Harry gave a bitter laugh, something that Alisha noticed, he did a lot of, "The Prophet lives to sell itself, and by pleasing the Boy-Who-Lived, they get interviews and exclusives. And the public can't get enough of their messiah."

"He called me a whore!"

"He's like that, going through girlfriends like a brat goes through toys. The moment it loses it's new, exciting glamour, it's gone. Any girl who tells Thomas to piss off is labelled as a fame hungry, gold digging whore. I don't know if they believe him when he says that they're different, that he really loves them, if they fall in love with his fame, or if they just put up with his groping, knowing that it won't last more than a fortnight."

"So have you dated anyone?" Alisha asked curiously, before covering her mouth, "I'm sorry, that's a really personal question to ask someone you don't really know. You don't have to answer that."

"No, it's alright. I am the jealous, evil, moody, aggressive less talented Potter, and of course, lest we forget, a slimy Slytherin. Only time a girl from another house has come near me was in my third year, when some 6th year Gryffindor wanted Thomas' signature."

"What a bitch! I can't believe someone would do that!"

"Yeah well, there's at least one perk of being a Slytherin. Everyone hates Thomas, so I'm safe from that within my house."

"Why does everyone hate him, I mean, if everyone else is able to put up with him being a complete arsehole, why can't Slytherins?"

"You have to understand, one of the reasons that Slytherin has such a bad name is because most of the children of Death Eaters and lots of the pureblood supremacists are in Slytherin. So of course, the children of Death Eaters won't exactly thank Thomas for vanishing Voldemort, and Thomas often sees himself as the champion of the muggleborns, pissing off the purebloods, which is ironic, as Thomas considers himself to be above the muggleborns. Maybe that's his reasoning, everyone is equal, beneath Thomas." Alisha laughed at that

"You really don't like your brother do you?"

Harry shook his head, "Not much to like. And if there was, 17 years has eroded any goodwill I had towards him."

Alisha looked away, gazing out the window, surprised by the lack of sun in the sky,

"We must nearly be there, why aren't you dressed?"

Harry looked at her with the glint of amusement back in his eyes, "Well normally I get changed around now as there is no-one else in my compartment."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry If I didn't see your name on plaque above the door. I'll just go the bathroom anyway."

With that she left, leaving Harry alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Alisha came back to the compartment just as the train slowed down, Harry was shutting his trunk and shrunk it as she entered.

"Didn't the announcement just say to leave you trunks on the train?"

"I don't trust the staff to not search the trunks. In fact, I know for certain that Dumbledore has personally searched some of the trunks of junior Death Eaters." Harry sat back down and leaned back against his seat as the train rocked back slightly and came to a stop.

"What are you doing?" Alisha gaped at him, "We have to go to the castle."

"All in good time, there's going to be a scrum in the corridors for a good five minutes as kids try to get off, then another fifteen minute wait for all the carriages to be filled, there is no rush." Harry didn't even move as he spoke.

"So what are we going to do for twenty minutes?"

Harry remained still, eyes closed, " _You_ , are going to go out there. We don't often have new students after second year, so I don't know the protocol. There should be someone out there to guide you though. Good luck with your sorting. I'll see you around, I'm sure."

Alisha turned, noting the obvious dismissal, before stopping and turning around,

"What house do you think they'll put me in?"

Harry turned to her,

"I don't know, I have only known you a few hours, and the sorting takes into account factors I cannot know or understand. Most people I could guess, but with you, because of your age, lack of bias, family legacies and just your character, I would say that there is no safe bet."

She nodded, not exactly reassured by his words, and walked off, wondering what exactly detailed the sorting. 

Harry sat at the end of the Slytherin table, in the corner, where the lights from the torches and candles were at their weakest. From there he saw all without being seen by most. He watched, to the outside viewer as a polite, attentive student, clapping softly at each declaration from the sorting hat. He watched as the first years finished and Dumbledore rose. The students tittered, as McGonagall remained by the stool with the sorting hat within her grasp. Dumbledore raised a hand to quiet the contingent before beaming at them, his eyes twinkling.

"Welcome back all, I do hope you have enjoyed your holidays, and emptied your minds, ripe for filling! Before we eat however, we must perform one final sorting. In these grave times it is a rare occasion where we can celebrate another child of learning coming into these great halls, so I expect you all to treat her well and guide her as she learns these corridors." Dumbledore gazed around the hall before settling on the impassive Slytherin table.

He finally looked towards the door and waved, "So may I introduce Alisha Hillman, coming into 7th year."

Harry watched as Alisha walked forward, firstly looking lost, before striding forward confidently, her jaw set stubbornly as she walked towards the sorting hat. She sat down and McGonagall placed the hat upon her head, the brim blocking her face from view. A few minutes passed and Alisha squirmed slightly on the stool and nodded her head ever so slightly before opening it's mouth and declaring loudly

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry couldn't help feel a slight pang of disappointment when he saw all the Gryffindors welcome Alisha, his brother eying her like a piece of meat. Thomas looked over and a perverse smile lit up his face. Harry felt the anger rise up before calming himself down, years of having Snape telling the Slytherins to never show emotion during meals kept him in line. But he kept his eyes on Thomas, so intently that when someone sat down next to him he was surprised.

"Do you have something with the new girl already Potter?"

Harry relaxed as he recognised the silky voice of Blaise in his ear. He glanced over and saw Blaise smirking at his hand, where he held his steak knife clenched in an iron grip and pointing at Blaise's family jewels.

"Merlin, you're still strung tight. Even for a Slytherin, Potter, do you want me to announce myself with trumpets before I sit down?"

The boys shook hands and Blaise pulled up a plate and filled it while Harry continued eating. They didn't speak through mains and it was only as Harry reached past Blaise to reach some tart that Harry spoke softly, "Who from last year?"

Blaise gave a nervous look around, "Now Harry?"

Harry gave a condescending look, "Relax, no-one would suspect now, they'd think this would be discussed tonight, and Snape's _Muffliato_ charm is around us."

Blaise didn't look reassured but spoke anyway, "Perkins, Belcher, Pritchard and Hanley joined the ranks this summer."

Harry looked over, a look of surprise and wonder on his face,

"Hanley? Niles Hanley? Didn't think he had it in him. What's the odds on him in Azkaban before Easter?"

Blaise leaned closer, obviously agitated,

"This isn't fucking funny Harry. I've only heard of those four, but I can guarantee there's more, and you know that even if most don't take the mark, then they support them anyway."

Harry leaned back and nonchalantly put his cutlery on his plate and pushed it away, "Come June, none of this will matter for either of us."

Blaise's eyes widened slightly, "You did it?"

Harry gave a small nod

"No loans?"

He shook his head

"All by yourself?"

Nod

"Where?"

Another shake

"Not even me?"

Harry didn't even bother shaking, instead just giving his companion a bored look. Blaise looked slightly put out but then recovered, schooling his features,

"Probably a good call."

Harry raised his finger to his lips then pointed delicately to the Head table, where Dumbledore rose.

"Now that you've all had your fill, I have a few messages. A warning, not just to our new students, but some returned as well", Dumbledore's gaze found the Gryffindor table, eyes twinkling, "That the Forbidden Forrest is, in fact, forbidden to students. Mr Filch has yet again asked me to inform you that he has updated his list of contraband, a list that can be found in his office. This year we shall have numerous Ministry of Magic aurors posted around the premises. Do not be alarmed, these are here for you safety. Do give them the courtesy and respect of the other staff, and try not to hinder them in their duties."

Dumbledore gazed sternly around the room before settling on the Slytherin table, to no-one's great surprise.

"Do you want to make it any more fucking obvious, Old Man?" Harry gave a slight smile at Blaise's words before removing it from his expression.

"Now, I'm sure you are all keen to be up bright and early for a full day of learning tomorrow, so I shan't keep you any longer. Off to bed you go!" Dumbledore finished with a wide smile on his face and turned to talk to his deputy.

"Bipolar, senile, old fart. This place has fallen since my mother came here." Harry didn't smile this time as they walked through the doors of the Great Hall, only checking his step so Blaise fell in line and whispered in his ear, "Merlin Blaise, you sound like Malfoy in our third year."

"Take that back Potter!"

He only received a wink before Harry turned a corner suddenly, away from the crowd of Slytherins heading to the dungeons. Blaise stopped next to the wall,

"Where are you going?"

Harry gave a grin,

"Special delivery. Got to pick it up now."

Blaise didn't look amused.

"Right now? You have to get it on our first night? Really Potter?"

Harry's grin only increased and he turned, throwing his last words over his shoulder at Blaise,

"No time like the present! Don't stay up for me."

"Give him my greetings"

Blaise continued to shake his head as he walked down to the Slytherin common room.

When Alisha came down to breakfast the next morning there the Great Hall looked quite empty. The staff table was full, but most of the staff were blocked from view by newspapers, there were small groups of Ravenclaws, a few Hufflepuffs, no fellow Gryffindors and about a dozen Slytherins. She saw Harry eating a bowl of porridge whilst reading a magazine and sidled over to sit across from him.

"Good morning Harry."

His eyes didn't shift from his magazine as he spoke,

"Congratulations, you are the only Gryffindor in student memory to arrive at breakfast before 7."

"Really? Why? It's not that early in the morning? The sun's up, what's the big deal."

"Gryffindors never get up early. The quidditch team complains about being on the pitch for 7. You almost never see one here before 8, and most don't arrive before 8:30, when there is a sudden rush of them. They try and shove as much food as they can down their throats in 25 minutes before rushing off to class for 9, where they subject us all to their complaints about how hungry they are."

She rocked back and raised an eyebrow, "Wow, you really don't like Gryffindors do you?"

He finally looked up, "I don't appreciate being forced to consider self-harm because those fools can't shut up. If they want to be idiots and sleep in then go ahead, but they can go be idiots quietly in a corner somewhere. Besides, inter-house friendships aren't that common."

"Is that what you mentioned on the train?"

"Yeah, you haven't seen it yet, because you're new. What you did when you sat down was both brave and ignorant."

"What?" Alisha was startled, her first morning and she had already broken an unwritten rule.

"Turn around and watch the door" She did as Harry said and watched as students came in twos and threes and sat down.

"What do you see?"

She looked but couldn't identify what she was supposed to be seeing

"I don't know."

"Look at the colours of their uniforms, where do they sit?"

She paid attention this time,

"They all sit in their tables, no-one mixes with any other table."

Harry nodded, "good, now do you see why you're getting looks from the kids up the table."

She hadn't but wasn't going to say that, glancing back at Harry she realised that he knew this and couldn't help feeling like she had failed a sort of test.

He got up and his bowl disappeared. She did too, right as a large group of students in green converged upon the table. He jerked his head and moved past her, and she followed as he led her to an alcove off the main hallway.

"I have nothing against you, but if you want to survive the month without acquainting yourself with the Hospital Wing, do not sit at the Slytherin table again."

"Why?" She caught his arm as he started to move away

"Slytherins value protocol and tradition, especially in public. You break the status quo when you sit with us, and Slytherins, particularly purebloods, value the social system they imbed themselves in. Besides that, you're a Gryffindor now, so you have to deal with my dearest brother, and you've already slighted him. And trust me when I say that he can hold a grudge. Don't make things harder for yourself with him by hanging around me. It's not worth it."

"I'll decide whether or not it's worth it, thank you very much."

She flushed as he raised an eyebrow but stared stubbornly back at him. After a very pregnant pause he sighed,

"If you're going to be a fool about this, then at least don't be a complete Gryffindor about it. Stay at your table. I'll see you in Charms after lunch. You might need to go back to the hall for your timetable. And your breakfast."

She flushed again as she realised that she hadn't eaten during that time and watched as he walked away. What kind of kid told someone they spent an entire day making friends with to stay away for their own good?

Harry walked down to the Great Hall for lunch in a bad mood, having been bored out of his mind during History of Magic, and then having McGonagall spend an entire lesson lecturing them on the importance of NEWTs and how much effort they required. While he appreciated the importance of NEWTs, he couldn't help but wonder why they didn't get the entire 7th year together for a single lecture, instead of the numerous times that Harry knew were coming in the next few days. As he sat in his normal seat Blaise sidled up next to him,

"I thought you might prefer some fresh air, you know, get out of the castle for a bit."

Harry tilted his head before nodding and standing, grabbing a pair of apples as he did so. He offering one to Blaise who refused. Crunching the fruit the pair walked through the sun towards a tree by the lake. Leaning against the trunk, Harry lobbed the core of his first apple into the water and turned to Blaise who was putting away his wand after placing some wards.

"What is so desperately important that I am skipping lunch?

Blaise, for once, didn't respond to Harry's humour, his expression only darkening,

"I've heard rumours and you won't like either of them."

Harry raised both eyebrows at this

"Montague's dead, apparently he greatly annoyed the Dark Lord."

Harry's face registered shock before he mulled over the new information.

"That in itself isn't bad. Montague was one of the main recruiters, with him dead Voldemort has less of a connection to graduates, plus maybe some kids will see how expendable they really are to his cause."

Blaise looked ready to pipe up before Harry spoke again, cutting him off,

"What's the other news?"

Blaise looked extremely nervous now, a rare display from the normally composed and stoic boy.

"There's chatter among some of the darker kids, those leaning towards family service. Apparently there is a marked man in Hogwarts. Seeing as everyone knows that the Dark Lord's biggest enemies are both at Hogwarts, in Dumbledore and your brother"

"He is not my brother" Harry growled

"I am assuming that this means marked in a more literal way than target. There is a Death Eater in this school, a student. Almost definitely within our house."

Harry paused and looked over the lake,

"How reliable is this?"

Blaise followed Harry's gaze, trying to pinpoint what captivated him,

"A third year, Moreland, was bragging to some of the 4th years about how he knew more about the inner workings of Slytherin than them. They challenged him, he brought it up. They obviously believed it, and those kids aren't fools."

"I want He or She found as soon as possible. Search for kids in 5th year and above, those with sleeves at all times, don't discount any of the houses, one of the best places to hide is in plain sight. But be careful, they'll have a small trusted network, possibly across houses and years groups to cover their arses, and they are bound to be paranoid. Don't dig yourself a hole you can't climb out of."

Harry finally looked back at Blaise before getting up, his second apple forgotten on the grass.

"If yo can't find them, then put out feelers telling them that we are neutral. All we have to do is survive the year, without pissing off one group, and its clear sailing."

Harry wondered off, leaving Blaise to ponder what sailing was.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry walked into Arithmacy just before the start of class and took his usual seat at the back of the classroom. He was pulling out his books and placed his bag on the chair next to him when a shadow moved over him. Looking up he saw Alisha standing there, looking nervous.

"Can I sit here?"

Harry moved his bag and shifted his book over to allow her room, and Alisha sat down looking grateful.

"How come in every lesson you sit alone? I've seen you in class, you always turn up just before the lesson starts, and you sit alone. Why?"

"Because I enjoy spending my free time not in detention."

"Why the hell would you get detention for being early to class?"

"No, not for that, for putting the Gryffindors in the hospital wing every lesson. Those dickheads don't know when to shut up."

Alisha laughed, "You don't have to try and deal with them ALL the time. They are so loud! And arrogant! And stupid! I didn't completely believe you on the train, what you said about houses, but It is so true. Your brother keeps going on about how all Slytherins are evil, and the noble Gryffindors have a duty to protect everyone from you. And everyone just laps it up!"

"I take it you're not the most popular person in Gryffindor right now" whispered Harry as he pointed at a glaring Hermione Granger, whose face reddened as she was caught out.

He smirked and started to write Professor Vector's instructions as he listened to Alisha rant on about her housemates.

"Miss Hillman! Why have you not written these equations down yet? This class is not for you to annoy Mr Potter, nor the rest of us! Now start writing or I shall have to take away house points!" Alisha jumped when Professor Vectors' voice rang out behind her, and instantly started scribbling away, seething at the embarrassment.

"Why the hell didn't you warn me, and why didn't you get in trouble, you were talking as well."

"Miss Hillman, this is not the appropriate time talk. _Some_ of us are trying to work." She didn't have to look across to know that Harry had a smirk on his face.

"Besides it was funny, and as a Slytherin, I always look for opportunities to humiliate Gryffindors, obviously."

"Alright smartarse, but how come you didn't get in trouble." Alisha demanded, still writing frantically, trying to catch up from her ranting.

"Vector is one of the few teachers who doesn't care about my brother, partially because I ace this class. Granger hates it, she studies for weeks and still comes second every year. Drives her mad."

"Alright class, hand in those equations, I will mark them as you complete the next set" Vector waved her wand, summoning the parchment to her desk as the next equations appeared on the chalkboard.

Harry and Alisha worked for the next few minutes in silence, until Alisha accidently snapped her quill in frustration.

"This stupid question! I can't get it! What have you done?"

She grabbed Harry's parchment and examined it. She compared it to hers and turned on him,

"How did you know how to do all those equations? What are those equations? Where did you learn all this? How the bloody hell are you finished? Are you cheating?"

Harry laughed as her face changed from frustration to bewilderment to suspicion and finally to embarrassment at being laughed at.

"If you want answers, allowing one to speak generally helps."

She pouted, rather cutely, Harry noticed, and looked expectantly at Harry.

"I rather enjoy this subject, it's a test of your knowledge, logic and cunning to interpret something, which most of wizard can't do, as it is too advanced for them. All of these equations are the simple basic principle, just manipulated slightly to be more beneficial in the context of the question. It's just shifting your thought process slightly, and using a bit of ingenuity. Here, I'll show you."

Harry pulled her work slightly closer and she leaned her head in. It was only when an amused cough from above them alerted the pair how close they were. The two leapt back, as if scalded, and saw Professor Vector standing above the table with two pieces of parchment.

"Not bad Miss Hillman, you should probably review the last question, but overall not bad. Mr Potter, your usual standard."

Alisha glanced down and saw he received full marks. He wasn't bragging when he said he aced the subject.

The Professor picked up their unmarked work and moved back to the front of the class,

"I will give you your marks for these next time I see you, please read the next chapter in your books and enjoy not having any further homework. Dismissed."

The class mumbled appreciatively at their teacher and stood to leave.

Alisha struggled to catch up to Harry, who was already moving out the door.

"Wait! Harry!"

He stopped and looked back at her.

"Can you help me with this? You're obviously really good at this, I'd really appreciate it."

He looked at her curiously and nodded, before looking over her shoulder.

Alisha went to turn before she felt someone grab her arm and steer her away.

"What the fu-"

"Hello Hillman."

"Granger? What the bloody hell do you want?"

The bushy-haired girl didn't respond, choosing instead to scowl over her shoulder at Harry, who shook his head and walked off.

Alisha' arm was let go as she was pushed into an alcove.

"What in Merlin's name was that for Granger? Didn't you see I was talking?"

Granger narrowed her eyes at Alisha

"Stay away from him, he's bad news. You've heard Thomas speak about him, he's an evil, jealous arse."

"Pots and Kettles, much? They obviously both hate each other, how do we know Thomas wouldn't lie about that to discredit his brother." She shot back, annoyed.

Granger shook her head, ignoring Alisha's words.

"You're a Gryffindor, you should know better than to trust a Slytherin over one of us. How could you side with the other brother over Thomas?"

"Firstly, he has a name, use it, and secondly, why should I listen to you about who my friends are? Open your eyes and look at the actual people Granger, not these stupid stereotypes."

Granger's face turned sympathetic, "They're not stereotypes Hillman, I thought so too when I first turned up here, but all Slytherins hate the other houses, especially muggle-borns. It's the way it is, you can't change it."

"Maybe you're just using that as an excuse to blind yourself, because you don't want to contradict your precious Thomas."

"Fine then, don't listen to me. But you'll find out the hard way then."

She left, leaving Alisha thoroughly annoyed and slightly confused. 

Harry walked through the shelves of the library and picked out a book on healing dark curses before heading to his table and sitting down. He had spent the morning watching the Slytherin quidditch trials that morning with Blaise and had silently cursed Draco for using his father's money to gain his position on the team and deny Harry the opportunity. It had been a very frustrating morning as he saw the pathetic display from his housemates. Although he had little reason to cheer for Slytherin, he detested the smugness and arrogance Thomas gained from winning the Quidditch cup, year after year.

Putting quidditch out of his mind, he settled in comfortably and read through the first few chapters when someone sat down opposite him.

"Whatcha reading there Harry?"

He peered over at top of the book at her.

"How to heal oneself." He turned back to his book.

"And why do you need that kind of knowledge?"

"Because Thomas recently was bought a new collection of books on curses, hexes and jinxes. So I need to know how to heal them."

"You already think Thomas is going to come after you? I know he's a complete wanker, but you still share blood." Alisha, sounded both hesitant and a bit unsure of whether to continue.

Harry sighed and put down his book, rubbing his head as he did so, looking tired suddenly.

"Thomas and I have always been polar opposites, and we have always clashed. With his ego, and both our pride, we were always going to fight. Unfortunately, sticking us in the same castle but in opposing houses, with the type of childhood his father gave him, really inflamed the situation. He loves antagonising me, and absolutely abhors me responding with any measure of competency. So he will come at me, and I will respond, and one, if not both of us, will end up with a need for healing."

Alisha looked down, and glanced at Harry, who just looked worn down.

"Thomas is an arrogant arsehole, but I still think it's sad that you two ended up the way you did."

"So do I, Alisha, so do I. But it is what it is, and there is too much bad blood to change it."

She didn't know what to say, so when he opened his book and continued reading she simply pulled out her charms homework and started writing, the sound of pages turning and quills scratching accompanying the two.

The pair got a few odd looks from other students but no-one dared to challenge the dangerous Potter twin. After many hours and two and a bit essays for Alisha, when most of the other Library-dwellers had retreated back to their common rooms for the night, Alisha stood and stretched with a soft groan.

Picking up her books she spoke softly to the silent boy opposite her.

"The library is going to shut soon, you coming?"

"No, I'll stay a bit longer."

She looked around a noticed that most of the lights had been extinguished, save for the ones in their area.

"But, won't you get kicked out."

He tiredly rubbed his eyes and picked up another book,

"No, Pince knows that I'll respect her books and put them all back properly when I'm done. She leaves me alone, unless I fall asleep on something rare."

She turned away, trying to hide the disappointment from Harry, who seemed too tired to notice.

"You know, I, ah, enjoyed this. I really did. Can we do this again?"

He looked up curiously, and with a guarded expression on his face,

"You want to do this again?

"Yes, I'd love to." She could hear the hope in her voice and silently prayed he didn't turn her down.

"Yeah, sure, that's cool." He seemed surprised, although she wasn't sure whether it was from her question, or his answer.

She turned to walk away, before looking back.

"You know Harry, If you just feel like talking, we can you know, just talk, alright.?"

She didn't get an answer, but walked away from her friend, leaving them both considerably happier.

Harry walked down the corridor, his usual annoyed scowl on his face, why did Dumbledore continue to insist on placing Slytherins and Gryffindors together in classes? Surely he wasn't blind enough to ignore the feud between the houses. And why did he allow James Potter to take over the Defence position after 6 years of assisting with flying and quidditch lessons?

It was bad enough trying to deal with Thomas every lesson, and it wasn't like the Potter Patriarch improved the standard of education, with his obvious bias and extreme ego. First having to put up with the incompetence of Quirrell then Lockhart, before the favouritism of Lupin, the restrictions of Umbridge, and finally the two Marauders, Black and Potter, in the final two years, acting like Thomas Potter was the greatest gift to humanity since fire. The only teacher who was able to teach fairly and with purpose was the fake Alistair Moody. Harry was in such a bad mood that when a younger student stopped suddenly in front of him he snarled and his magic flared, causing all the other students to flee the vicinity.

"My, you have a way with people, don't you?" He turned to see Alisha coming out of the adjacent corridor and falling in-step with him.

"Pretty bad lesson, huh. Pretty shitty how Potter gave you that detention for disagreeing with him over something as trivial as fighting off Dementors."

Harry grunted,

"Not in the mood to talk, huh?"

They walked on and Alisha kept glancing at the stoic boy.

"Um, Harry? I know I haven't been here that long, but why are we going down if we have to head up to Arithmacy on the 5th floor?

"Because if you head down these stairs to the first floor, then you can walk up the west stairs, which have an empowering charm on them, making the climb easier, and you come up on the 5th floor exactly 3 corridors away from Arithmacy, and avoid the crowds."

"Wow, you really have this down-pat huh?"

"Six years of avoiding everyone in the castle will do that to you."

Once again Harry had shut down the conversation and left Alisha in an awkward silence. She silently marvelled at his inbuilt ability to do so as they walked through the doors of the classroom and sat down, right as Professor Vector turned away from the board to face them.

"Now, you have had 4 weeks to settle in, and you have your first assessment approaching. You will be partnered up and each pair will be given two tasks. You will first be given an unknown spell formula and you will have to deduce what it means, and what the spell does. Bonus points will be given for knowing the origin of the spell, any similar spells or suggestions on adapting the spell. Secondly, you will be given the basis for a spell and the purpose, you must use your knowledge and logic to figure out the final equation for the spell using what you are given. This task will be due in on the first day back from the Christmas break. You will be expected to make a log of your work, similar to a diary, detailing your research and the steps taken in your efforts. This will be individual, so to show me how much each partner put in to the finished product. No exceptions. I have written each number on a piece of parchment twice. You will be paired with whoever draws the same number. Miss Patil, if you would start us off."

After every student had taken their pick Alisha looked across and saw Harry's discarded parchment with a number 3 on it, looking at her own she was disappointed when she saw a 5. Glancing around she cast a quick locating spell and saw Tracy Davis' parchment briefly light up. Scowling at the thought of being paired with the nasty Slytherin girl she recast the spell, looking for Harry's partner. Her eyes widened as she saw Granger's parchment light up. She noticed that Granger was focused solely on Professor Vector as she grilled the teacher about the assignment. She glanced at Harry who seemed to be daydreaming mindlessly and quickly cast a switching spell on Granger's parchment, just before Granger grabbed it, apparently done with questioning their teacher.

"Alright class, find your partner, and remember, no switching!" Vector barely finished before the sound of chairs scrapping against the stone floor filled the room.

"What did you get Alisha?"

Opening her hand she saw the number 3 clearly on her parchment.

With a large grin spreading across her face she looked at Harry's and declared,

"Looks like it's you and me partner!"

He rolled his eyes at her dramatics and went off to collect their sheet off Vector.

Alisha looked over and her grin grew wider as she saw Granger try to deal with the thoroughly pissed off Davis, with little success.

James Potter walked out of his office and down the corridor, whistling joyously as he went. He flashed a smile at some passing Gryffindors and received grins back. A month into his new teaching post and he was a school favourite. His smile firmly fixed on at the positive welcome that he never failed to get from his admiring Gryffindors, he continued on in a fabulous mood. Such was his mood that he didn't notice the shadow gliding along the wall until it was too late. He never saw the man that leapt out at him and tackled him to the ground.

The sounds of the two men wrestling off the walls only to be followed from a bark like laugh from the man on top of the two, holding his counterpart.

"For the love of all things good Sirius, we're bloody staff-members, you can't just attack me in the middle of the corridor you mutt!"

Sirius Black jumped to his feet and heaved his best friend up, still laughing uproariously,

"Come on Jamesy-boy, where is the fun In that? Liven up a bit, you're acting like Remus!"

Pushing away the laughing man, James Potter quickly straightened his robe and tried unsuccessfully to fix his unruly hair.

"Hey, I resent that! I'm still fun!"

Sirius only laughed harder at this and James scowled and looked down the corridor.

"Hey, you, boy, what are you doing!"

James stopped and yelled at the shadowed form moving silently through the junction ahead of the pair. Sirius growled slightly as he saw the green trimmings to his robes.

The person halted briefly and saw the pair before continuing on ward.

"Stop right there or I'll dock 50 points from Slytherin!"

James smirked victoriously as the student stopped and slowly turned towards them, revealing narrowed emerald eyes beneath a mass of black hair.

"You, what are you doing out here?" "Sneaking around are you?"

Both men sneered at James' son.

"It's not illegal to walk these corridors, and you have no reason or power to stop me, so I'll be on my way."

The completely neutral tone annoyed James so he yelled out,

"Oi, I'm not done! Come here and turn out your pockets! Now boy!"

Harry turned and looked at him,

"You don't have the power to force me to do that"

"But I do!" Sirius looked extremely smug, and proud of himself, "Dumbledore has granted Aurors the right to search students, particularly those of age, if a teacher is present. I think we have that covered."

Harry shook his head, a trace of annoyance in his voice,

"I know the rights of students, you have to have cause or suspicion to search one, regardless of age, as they are protected by school legislation. So if you will excuse me, I will be going now." Harry finished his sarcastic reply and turned to walk off, only to be wrenched around by James Potter,

"Don't you take that tone with me boy! I'll-"

Ripping his arm out of the vice like grip, Harry sneered,

"Do what, _Professor_ , after all I'm sure the board would _love_ to hear of teachers abusing their power, or acting inappropriately towards students. This conversations over. Stay away from me."

He walked down the corridors, as the two men glowered, radiating anger and hate.

"This isn't over boy! You'd better watch yourself!"

"Is that a threat Potter?"

The taunting whisper rang across the stone to the two men, who slowing walked off in the opposite direction, whispering angrily as they did so.


	4. Chapter 4

Before Harry knew it Halloween had crept up on him, and the Great Hall was filled with giant, floating pumpkins and bats. Harry hated the Halloween feast but Dumbledore had made attendance mandatory, so he simply suffered in silence. After listening to the Gryffindors roar with joy throughout the feast, particularly Thomas and Weasley, Harry looked at his watch and up to Snape, who was glowering at James Potter, who was yet again telling all the staff how his son had 'ended the first war', as he put it. It was to everyone's surprise, however, when Dumbledore rose, and all conversation ceased as everyone looked to the Headmaster, as he had never made a speech during this feast.

"Thank you students, I do hope you have enjoyed the tremendous feast tonight, however I have a very serious topic to breach with you." Dumbledore paused to gaze over the school

"As you all know, there are those that do not wish us to be able to enjoy these golden moments of peace and unity. Lord Voldemort has continued to attack the wizarding world, and although you are all safe behind these walls, we must remember that divided we will fall, but united, we can hold against those who wish to extinguish the light, and plunge our world into darkness."

Dumbledore looked over his glasses as he finished and stared right into Harry's eyes, who glared right back.

"We must also commemorate, those who have contributed to the noble efforts of defending our way of life, and so I raise my glass to those who have contribute to the cause. To Thomas Potter"

Blaise spluttered as Dumbledore finished, but he was barely heard over three quarters of the school scrapping back their benches to raise a goblet and mutter, "Thomas Potter."

Amongst the commotion Harry looked at Snape, who looked as if he wanted to start cursing everyone, and seeing all eyes focused on the Gryffindor table, subtly rose and left the hall, not noticing a pair of twinkling blue eyes on his retreating back.

He stormed through the corridors, not coming upon anyone, as all the students and ghosts were preoccupied. He hissed when he reached the door to the common room, and it swung open smoothly, but Harry barely noticed as he went straight for the bottle of Ogden's, conjuring a glass as he went. After draining the first glass he took a deep breath and enjoyed the second glass at a slower rate, not acknowledging Blaise as he sat down next to him, the rest of the Slytherins passed by on either side, most muttering about Dumbledore's 'stirring' speech, although many for a different reason.

"He's never done that before" Blaise stole the bottle from Harry's grasp and poured some for his own tumbler

Harry grunted and took another sip,

"Why now? He didn't make an announcement like that in 5th year, when the ministry denied the Dark Lord, nor last year when they finally acknowledged it, so why now?"

Blaise looked at Harry expectantly,

"The next few graduating years have the closest connection to Potter, and have displayed the most loyalty, which Dumbledore is obviously playing on. He is highlighting his role, so that people will see him as a 'beacon of light', or some shit like that. The sheep will flock to him, but really they all flock to Dumbledore, the next generation ready to join the Order of the Phoenix, and 'fight the good fight.' I'm guessing that the Order are taking heavier losses than the Prophet reports, judging by Dumbledore's speech. He needs more bodies, and he's using Potter's name and fame to get them."

Blaise put the stopper back on the bottle, ignoring the disgruntled look from Harry, who knocked back the final drops and rose to walk to bed with his friend,

"Well, at least neither of us will be getting ourselves killed in this.

Harry laughed and the boys parted at the entrance to their rooms.

The weeks continued to pass quickly for most students, despite the overwhelming amounts of homework heaped upon the 5th years and up. Harry was still the anti-Christ of Hogwarts, and Thomas continued to take every opportunity to degrade his brother. However it wasn't Thomas who was annoying Harry, it was his father. James Potter spent half his Defence against the Dark Arts classes teaching, and the other half taking ridiculous amounts of points off Slytherin for the stupidest of reasons, particularly Harry.

Such was his apparent hate for his son that even Snape was struggling to keep up with his campaign against Gryffindor, whilst still making semi-legitimate cases. Apparently taking copious amounts off the noble Gryffindors had turned most of the other teachers against Slytherin by joining James Potter in his vendetta. The entire school took great pleasure in pointing out that Slytherin had never gained more than 30 points in its glass container before it was wiped away. Harry was absolutely seething from the pettiness of the abuse and put Draco Malfoy into the wall of the common room when he tried incite the Slytherins into lynching Harry for it.

Apparently the only person who had sympathies outside of his house was Alisha. He had come to greatly appreciate his time spent with her on their assignment, as well as tutoring her with her homework. He helped her with Runes, Arithmacy, Defence, Charms and Transfiguration, whilst she helped him with Astronomy and History, the last one he desperately needed help with, seeing as though he barely turned up, and when he did, he spent the whole time doing homework.

"Come on Harry, you have to admit that Padma and Lavender aren't too bad. I mean, yes, they can get annoying with their gossip, but everyone is allowed to let their hair down a bit once in a while. We're teenagers for Heaven's sake! We're supposed to have fun! Sneak out, smuggle a few drinks, chat each other up, LIVE! You need to get out more."

Harry as ever, didn't look up, again annoying Alisha with his lack of reaction.

"Putting your idiotic, silly, shallow dorm-mates aside, what do you know about sneaking, smuggling and snogging, as you put it?"

Unable to quickly come up with an answer she settled the age old tactic of recycling the accusation,

"What do you know of it then, huh?"

Harry did look up at this, a gleam in his eye.

Alisha tried to backpedal, she had wanted a reaction, just not THIS reaction.

"No, no, no, no. We are not doing that. Harry, stop. Harry, Harry, HARRY! Stop that! We are NOT DOING THIS!"

She might as well have been talking to a dragon for all the good it did, as Harry quickly packed away his work and put it all in his expanded pocket.

"Harry! Bloody hell, curfew is in ten minutes! We can't get caught."

She continued to protest as he pulled her out of the library, a rare grin on his face and a devilish gleam in his eye.

"Come on Alisha, we're having fun, letting our hair down, living a little. We're teenagers after all."

"No, that is not funny. I am not doing this."

To her shock he let go of her arm and stepped back, his arms raised and a mischievous smirk plastered across his handsome face, a welcome change from his scowl.

"Well Alisha, I won't force you, you can go back to your, safe, snug, boring tower, and not follow me. It's your choice." As she turned to leave with an indignant huff, he started again.

" _But_ , curfew just started, and we are about as far as you can get from Gryffindor Tower, and I doubt you could get there without getting caught."

"You absolute pillock! Do you want me to spend all my free time scrubbing cauldrons?" Alisha hissed.

He continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"But if you come with me, I _promise_ that you will get back, safe and sound, with the teachers none the wiser."

"Well that leaves me loads of choice then, doesn't it." Alisha shot back

With a smirk he turned and strode towards the stairs, sliding into the shadows, leaving Alisha to scurry to keep up, whilst trying to match his effortless and noiseless steps.

"Where are we going anyway? What is this supposed to achieve?"

"All will be revealed, now shush, I'm trying to get us there without getting caught."

"Knowing where we are going would be nice" Alisha grumbled but quieted.

After half an hour of slowly moving throughout the castle Harry and Alisha stood on the 7th floor corridor opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, and his doomed attempt to teach trolls the finer aspects of ballet.

"Why am I staring at a blank wall?"

Harry gave another infuriating smirk, as he had done for the past half an hour, and paced back in forth whilst Alisha glanced nervously around.

It was to her shock that when she turned back there was a door formed within the wall.

Laughing at her shocked expression Harry opened the door and motioned for her to follow. The walked along the corridor as Harry explained the secret.

"This is the fabled and long-lost, Room of Requirement. It appears only when the user is in desperate need, providing almost anything, within its limitations. This tunnel, will lead us to where we want to go, Hogsmeade. Specifically the Hog's Head. Your ramble reminded me that I needed to pick up a few things, my stock is almost out."

"What do you need to get from the Hog's Head that you can't ge-…"

She glared at his back as they walked on

"Harry, you can't bring alcohol into school! There are kids!"

"Yeah, but _we're_ not kids, besides, I'm not the only one, I know that a few Ravenclaws have it for when they get stressed, and some of the shit I have found in the Room of Requirement, you wouldn't believe, so I can safely say that this isn't the worse thing people have smuggled in for a bit of late night fun."

"Yes, but just because other people have done worse doesn't mean you can do this!"

He gave her a glance, "You are absolutely, one hundred percent right. I shouldn't be doing this. However I am, because I want to, and any tiny little act of rebellion I can get away with it worth it."

"Really Harry? Starting an uprising against the teachers?"

"I would If I could…" He muttered darkly, before coughing, "More like… Escaping the boundaries that Dumbledore and my wonderful parents place around me. Small victories, but victories none the less."

"Stupid, irrelevant and inconsequential victories." She shot back, her annoyance rising.

"Quite possibly true, but those small victories are what makes life bearable these days."

That stopped her, and she watched as Harry paused in front of a door that had sprung up on the wall of the corridor and spoke quietly to this. Alisha just realised that Harry had finally given something away before he managed to inevitably kill the conversation.

"This is it, do you want to come out, or stay back?"

She shook her head and stepped forward, finding herself in a cramped, dusty, cluttered room full of old barrels and crates. Harry stepped out behind her and sat down on a barrel.

Not a minute later a man walked through, causing Alisha to jump. Except for the rather bland robes, he could have been the Headmaster.

"Back again Boy? This lot ran out sooner than I thought."

The two men shook hands and Harry smiled and whispered something, to which he only got a gruff grunt in return.

"Aberforth, this is my friend Alisha, Alisha, Aberforth. He's helped me out on more than a few occasions."

"Aye that be true." The old man grumbled as started shrinking a few crates and a barrel.

Harry gave a wry grin and tossed a bag to Aberforth, who caught it in one hand, whilst levitating the shrunken goods with the other.

Harry pocketed his bundle and waved goodbye to Aberforth, who had already turned away. Facing the portrait that they had walked through Harry gave the girl inside a sad smile,

"It is good to see you too Ariana. It's been a while, I'll try and see you soon."

The girl in the portrait returned the sombre smile and swung the portrait open to reveal the corridor.

Harry and Alisha walked silently for a while before she gathered up the nerve to speak.

"Harry, why do you get your drinks from a man that looks like a fake Dumbledore?"

"Because Aberforth knows the pains of being hidden in a sibling's shadow, besides, he is a good man, an honourable man, he keeps my secrets, just as I keep his."

"You mean, that man, is actually Dumbledore's brother?" Alisha looked perplexed, after all, how could the great Headmaster have a brother who worked in a dodgy old pub?

"Yes, Aberforth is the middle child of three, younger brother of Albus, and older brother of Ariana, the girl whose portrait hides our way. However, they prefer to keep people unaware of that fact, so I trust you will not mention it." Harry looked over, his face serious yet again.

"Of course I will."

The two walked in step quietly until they reached the end of the corridor and Harry pulled out a piece of parchment.

"What's that?" Alisha tried to see what was so special about the supposably blank parchment

She jumped when Harry hissed, only to look on as lines suddenly appeared all over the parchment.

"I didn't know that you were a parselmouth", Alisha's voice cut in, full of suspicion.

"Well then, you were probably the only one in the castle who didn't. Ever since I called off a snake from attacking Justin Finch-Fletchley in my second year, Thomas has used it as irrefutable proof that I am evil."

Putting that past her Alisha moved in to peer at all the lines on the parchment,

"It's a map! Wow, and damn, it has everyone on it! Look it's us!"

She was unable to keep the childish glee out of her voice, only stopping when Harry looked over and laughed at her.

What a strange night this was turning out to be, full of revelations and adventure. She had heard Harry laugh softly before, but never a complete, open laugh. She couldn't help but notice how nice it sounded.

"Yes, this is a map of the castle. My father originally made one with the help of his friends, then when Thomas was about to go to Hogwarts he made a second one for him. I happened to chance upon them as he did and realised I wanted one for myself. So I made this one. I added a few things that the others haven't discovered, like the Room of Requirement, and another secret passage out of the school, between the painting of Lucretia the Ludicrous and the broom closet on the second floor. I also made this map," He said, pulling out a second piece of parchment, "as a copy of Thomas', so that way I can control what he sees on his map."

She revelled in the awesomeness of the plan before a thought struck her.

"Hang on, if you had this map, why didn't we just use it to avoid the others on our way here?"

Harry shook his head,

"Firstly it was a challenge, and secondly, I knew the schedule of patrolling prefects and their routines, so I knew that we only had to avoid the two Hufflepuff fifth years, as the Slytherin sixth years stay in the dungeons, and my brother would be trying to get in the knickers of the Ravenclaw sixth year after he dismissed her partner."

Alisha grimaced at that before putting the disturbing thought behind her.

"So why do we need this now?"

"Because", he paused as he examined the map one last time, before putting it away, "The students have gone to bed and the teachers are patrolling, and they are much more cunning in their ways."

The pair set off, with Harry occasionally consulting his map, and in no time Alisha stood before the Fat Lady, who scowled suspiciously at Harry's green trimming. She felt disappointed that the night had ended, as she was quite enjoying learning more about Harry, even if he had a way of infuriating everyone.

"Well… I guess this is goodnight. See you tomorrow Harry." And before she lost her nerve she moved forward and kissed him quickly on the cheek. She turned and moved through the porthole before he could see her blush, missing his guarded and confused face.

Blaise looked up as Harry walked into their shared dorm room, an unusually pensive look upon his face,

"What happened?"

It was a testament to how deep in thought Harry was that he didn't even notice Blaise, and recoiled into a duelling stance when a tickling hex hit his thigh.

"Harry, what the bloody hell happened? You're never this out of it!"

Harry shook his head and pulled a bundle out of his pocket and put it in his trunk, keeping only one suddenly enlarged bottle out, pouring into two glasses Blaise conjured.

After knocking back his first drink he poured a second and started speaking.

"Hillman"

There was a long silence between the two as Blaise watched Harry and Harry drank.

"Blaise, removing all pretext, all prejudice, what do you make of the girl?"

Blaise didn't even think about it,

"I like her, and she obviously likes you."

"Tell me something I don't know. Right now I don't give two shits whether you like her or not. Do you trust her?"

Blaise stiffened, taken aback by the abrupt change in his friend,

"Well, she doesn't have the typical house prejudice, is aware of the Boy-Who-Lived bullshit, but isn't infatuated with it, she is obviously smart, and she doesn't pay heed to the rumours that swirl around the castle. So, all other feelings aside," with a pointed look at Harry he continued, "I do believe she is trustworthy. But you didn't need me to tell you that. You don't need my advice on who to trust, so what was the real purpose of this?"

Yet another silence fell, as Harry fidgeted slightly, opening his mouth a few times before stopping.

"Oh no." Blaise looked aghast as he spoke, "You're worried that you two are getting two close. That's what this is about. You like her, but you don't feel like you can trust her."

Harry nodded and Blaise slumped back in his seat

"Well what do you want to do?"

"What I want and what is possible are never the same Blaise, you know that." It was impossible to ignore the bitterness in Harry's voice.

"I don't know. She obviously wants to go further, but I don't know. Is it wrong to want something good in my life?"

Blaise winced at that and spoke tentatively,

"Harry, put aside yours doubts for the moment, I trust her, you trust her, she trusts you, she likes you, and of course, lest we forget, YOU LIKE HER! Mate, why do you keep holding back?"

"Because nothing is ever this nice, this clean cut, or even this good! How do I know that this isn't some plot from my brother? She would certainly see him enough in that tower of theirs."

"For fucks sake Harry. DO YOU WANT THIS OR NOT? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with just you and a bottle? Moping around and seeing a knife hidden in every sleeve waiting to stab you in the back. Unless you become a fucking hermit in a faraway mountain, you are going to have to Besides, your brother? You met her well before your brother, and they obviously have a mutual dislike for each other. Go for it, what is stopping you?"

"She is a Gryffindor!"

"And you're the one who makes those grand fucking speeches about House prejudice you pillock!"

Both boys were nose to nose and breathing heavily, before Harry turned around and smashed his glass on wall, sending glass through his hand, and leaving deep cuts that went seemingly un-noticed.

"Do what you will Harry, but what do you have to lose from it?"

"Famous last words Blaise" Harry shot back as Blaise turned to fall into bed.


	5. Chapter 5

As Christmas rapidly approached, the mood in the castle rose, despite the dropping temperatures, with Gryffindor destroying Slytherin in the first Quidditch match of the season, further inflating both Thomas' and James' egos to new peaks. Luckily for Harry, James Potter had seemingly forgotten the corridor incident after the match and had switched from taking points of Slytherin to giving Gryffindors points for the smallest things, such as "travelling through the corridor in an organised and diligent manner", much to the disgust of the Slytherins, and the delight of Thomas. He had been so confident that he decided that attacking Harry from behind in the hallway was a good idea. Needless to say, it had ended poorly for him as he ended up with numerous ailments and injuries. Unfortunately Dumbledore had heard of the incident and proclaimed to the school that aurors had the power to interrogate or search students if they travelled alone before breakfast or after dinner. Sirius Black had looked positively gleeful at that and sneered at Harry pointedly.

His joy was short-lived however, as Harry had taken to using his map extensively, and taken up learning numerous methods of stealth and concealment in his travels around the school. Apparently his lack of success had forced him to be more direct in his ventures.

It was a Tuesday afternoon and Harry was carefully measuring out the powder of crushed salamander scales in the back corner of the potions lab when Sirius Black walked in, a confident look on his face and walked up to Snape's desk.

Snape looked up and sneered and the other man,

"Well, well, well, look what the mutt dragged in. What are you doing, _disturbing_ my class like this, black?"

"Well, _Snivellus_ , I have permission from Dumbledore to remove one of your precious students." He flourished a piece of rolled parchment in the face of Snape, who snatched it out of his grasp and quickly read it.

His eyes flicked briefly to Harry, who sighed and started packing his equipment away.

"Can't fight your own battles Black? I would have thought that an auror would be able to find a student in a school without help. _Obviously_ not in your case. Now get out of my class." Turning away from the bristling man he turned to Harry,

"Evans! Mr. Black here seems to wish to have a polite conversation with you. I'm sure you won't deny him this."

"Of course Sir."

Slowly packing away his books he turned to the auror.

"Hurry up you brat, I don't have all day."

"Careful Auror Black, I would hate to see you in front of an inquiry facing allegations of bullying and intimidating students. We couldn't have your reputation at stake now, could we?"

Annoyed by the taunting tone Sirius shoved the boy forward and pointed his wand at him as the boy turned to face him.

"And what do you think the ministry will do to you if they found out that you had attacked an auror? My word against yours boy, and must I remind you that I am a highly decorated auror, a pillar of this community."

"And how did you get those medals Black? If memory serves me right you received at least three Ministerial commendations for sucking Fudge's arse the past few years."

Harry let the backhand hit him, and fell back, a wry smile upon his face as a bit of blood trickled out of his mouth.

"Oh my, what _have_ you done?"

Sirius' eyes widened as he realised the power he had just given Harry.

"Nothing that cannot be fixed, I am sure Mr Potter. After all, you provoked our resident auror, did you not?"

Harry's smile disappeared as the Headmaster appeared and he spat out the blood, glaring at the man.

"A Headmaster has a duty of care to protect their students do they not? I wonder how the Governors will take the news that a severe incident is being swept under the rug."

"I am sure that the governors need not be informed my boy."

"I am not, _your boy_ , Dumbledore, you best remember that." Harry turned to fully face Dumbledore, "And I am sure that they would be more than willing to hear a case like this."

"Well, you see Mr Potter, the governors signed a waiver giving aurors full operational power during their time of service at the school. Including the right to discretion during an investigation. Now I think it in your best interests to not mention this, as Mr Black would be forced to apprehend you for interfering with an open Ministry operation."

"That's fucking hippogriff shit Dumbledore, and you know it. You're lucky that Madame Bones is dead, as she would have your head if you tried to pull this shit through her office with her still there. I thought that this imbeciles' appointment was too convenient."

"30 points from Slytherin for unsavoury language Mr Potter", Dumbledore gave his trademark disappointed look, to which Harry snarled, "regardless of your opinion of Mr Black and his appointment I specifically told the entire student contingent to give our visitors the respect they deserve. Now, onto more serious business."

Dumbledore gestured to an empty classroom on his right and Harry slowly walked in and stood by the far wall, watching as Dumbledore conjured a squishy chair to sit and Sirius leaned against the opposing wall, looking smug.

"Now Mr Potter", Dumbledore leaned forward, "I have heard some very disturbing news that you violently attacked your brother. Naturally I am deeply concerned for both his health and yours. Brothers should not attack each other, rather they should be protecting and loving each other. The viciousness of this attack was particularly brutal and I am afraid there will have to be reparations."

Harry looked at Dumbledore and spoke angrily, "You obviously need to listen more carefully then, _Headmaster_ , as I only responded to a cowardly attack from that arsehole. No doubt he was taught that by his father. I merely responded with equal force. It is not my fault that the arrogant shit is overly optimistic about his magical ability. I fail to see how I am the one who is facing punishment in this instant."

"But surely my boy. He is your brother, I am sure he meant it as nothing more than a light joke. Would it not be better to let it go and forgive him?"

"I am not, _your boy_ , Dumbledore, next time you call me that I will burn off your beard. And as for your light joke, Thomas tried to hit me in the lower back with a rather powerful variant of a muscle contracting hex, one which would have caused extreme pain, loss of mobility and lots of treatment to fully repair. What I did in response pales to that of which Thomas intended to do. Where is his punishment for his involvement in this, might I ask?"

"I happen to agree with Mr Potter Headmaster, why is only one participant being punishment. Surely this seems rather unjust."

Snape strode through the doorway, his cloak billowing as usual, causing Sirius to jump up and exclaim,

"What are you doing here Snivellus?"

Snape gave a condescending look,

"I have a right to be here, as Head of House, Black."

"Regardless Severus, I believe that this is a private discussion between Mr Potter, Auror Black and I." Dumbledore gave Snape a small smile.

"I disagree, I wish for Professor Snape to remain."

Dumbledore gave Harry a look but didn't comment

"So Headmaster", Snape continued, "Why is it that I find my student being harassed for an incident of self-defence whilst the perpetrator remains unpunished?"

"Now Severus, the other Mr Potter is already serving detentions with me for his involvement in this incident."

Harry snorted loudly, "You mean, he is getting useless lessons from you whilst you try to teach the pathetic fool occlumency."

Dumbledore's eyes widened at that, and Sirius leapt forward, his wand rising

"How did you know that, Mr Potter?" Dumbledore's voice became sharp.

"There is no need to teach him occlumency, anyone who wanted to learn what is on his mind would simply need to listen to the idiot. Your precious _Chosen One_ needs to learn how to shut his mouth before he can learn to shut his mind."

"Am I to understand that you yourself know and utilise occlumency?"

Alarm bells started ringing in Harry's head but he couldn't see a way out of the hole he dug without giving Dumbledore an answer, so he tried to stall,

"What is it to you Headmaster? Surprised that I can do something my dearest, immensely talented and incredibly gifted brother cannot?"

"Your brother is ten times the wizard you are you little shit!" Sirius made himself known again, before being shut down by Dumbledore's glare. Turning his eyes to Harry Dumbledore spoke again, not rising to the bait as Harry hoped he would.

"And where did you learn such a difficult and specialised art such as occlumency?"

"I read." Dumbledore looked over to Snape who had a neutral expression, obviously not believing Harry's answer, but he miraculously let it slide.

"Regardless of this, we seem to have drifted from the topic of your punishment. I do believe that a week's worth of detentions with Professor McGonagall shall suffice."

"Headmaster, I must protest th-"

"That will be all Severus" Dumbledore cut in, "Now, Mr Potter, I do believe that you need to return your belongings to your dorm room before dinner is served."

Harry stood and nodded to Snape as he left, trying to figure out how to avoid the probing that he knew Dumbledore would be sending his way.

The weeks continued to fly past and the teacher continued to pile work upon the 7th years, as they struggled to keep up. All the students in 3rd year and above were dismayed when the first Hogsmead weekend was cancelled due to a Death Eater threat. Thomas had managed to convince other students to take sneaky pot shots at Harry between classes, more often than not missing the nimble and alert Slytherin and hitting fellow Gryffindors as their jinxes, hexes and curses were battered away. Unjustly this led to Harry receiving copious amounts of detentions and loss of points, no matter how hard he and Snape venomously protested. It was reflecting on this that had led Alisha to taking to walk with Harry as much as she could, not that she believed that he needed aid, but because Thomas Potter had seemingly made an effort to win her over, and refused to attack whilst she was there.

And so Alisha met Harry outside the Great Hall after lunch., they had double potions to finish the day together and she was sick of Granger constantly lecturing everyone to do their homework and to study more. How anyone, much less Thomas and Ron, two incredibly impatient and irritable people, managed to deal with Granger was beyond her. She resolved to not think of her fellow Gryffindors as she saw Harry walking out with the slightest of limps, so slight that she only noticed it because she was watching him so intently, not that she would say that out loud.

"What happened? You're limping." She instantly hounded Harry as she matched his pace, "And don't tell me it's nothing because I know that it isn't"

She was surprised when he actually answered, growling out "Malfoy", before reaching into his robe pocket for a small vial, which he unstoppered and knocked back quickly.

"Our illustrious Slytherin arsehole decided that my friendship with you was another example of my lack of Slytherin-ness, and that the time was ripe for me to be removed from our house. When he failed to get enough support from the house he tried to force me out with a duel, and being the coward he is, he had Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Parkinson and three fourth years that I can't even remembering existing until now, attack me. Fortunately for me, they all assumed that I would stay in one spot and allow myself to get hit, and when that tactic fails, that dark curses are always the best options, despite being slow and difficult to articulate, easy to block if identified, and most of all, completely expected. Crabbe and Goyle have concussions, Nott and Parkinson are completely covered in boils and have an extreme tickling jinx, I'm rather proud of that combination, and Malfoy is in the Hospital wing with his joints inverted. He isn't going to be moving for a while."

"Jesus Fucking Christ Harry! Bit over the top much! Did you have to go that hard?"

He seemed hurt at her words before schooling his face into a blankness,

"It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both" *

"Where on earth did you get that from?"

Harry smirked, "You tell me, besides, after that display the rest of Slytherin will back off, Malfoy will be ought of action for a while, and when he does return he will have lost most of his rep, and I'm sure that work will trickle around to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. I'm covered for the foreseeable future on those fronts."

Still not looking happy, Alisha moved onto the topic that had been knowing at her since the start of their discussion,

"So what about me? You said Malfoy tried to use me against you?" She tried to ignore how desperate she sounded,

Harry shook his head, "Malfoy would have found something to use against me, It was nothing against you personally. Besides I'm not going to stop seeing you just because some pampered arrogant arsehole says its against his personal ideas of a prefect Slytherin."

She felt infinitely better at his words.

By that time they had reached the dungeons and arrived at the potion lab's doors just as Snape flung them open, Harry grabbed her elbow and gently guided her to the table where he normally sat with Blaise, who simply raised an eyebrow and sat next to Tracy Davis without a word. Ron and Thomas gave her filthy looks as they went to their desk but didn't press the issue, wary of Snape's wrath.

"You have exactly ten minutes to collect and prepare your ingredients for the hydration draught and the blood replenishing potion. Both are written on the board. Begin."

As everyone rushed around Harry signalled for Alisha to get all the equipment out while he collected the ingredients needed.

They started preparing, with Alisha cutting and crushing the ingredients for the hydration draught, whilst Harry carefully sliced and diced the ingredients for the much more volatile blood replenishing potion.

"Potter, what is this? Tell me, what do the instructions on the board say about salamander blood? No answer? No doubt this will not penetrate your enormous head, but It does indeed say _dried_ salamander blood. You will write me six inches on why you would use dried blood. It is due tomorrow, if you do not complete it, you will have detention with Filch."

Alisha looked up to watch the usual display of Snape insulting Potter, who could do nothing but gnash his teeth and go redder in the face. She felt however a nudge at her side and went back to preparing her ingredients. Due to Harry's particularly skilful hands and potions expertise, they were the first to start their potions, with Draco and Pansy, as well as Blaise and Tracy Davis being the only other pairs who started before their set time period ended, with all the Gryffindors losing points due to, "deliberately wasting a professor's valuable time".

Curiously Snape seemed to ignore Alisha's existence, and when she tried to ask Harry about it he shook his head and kept working. Under Harry's sharp eye and careful guidance, not only did they finish their hydration draught and finish their blood replenisher up to the resting stage, they finished well before the lesson ended, and matched perfectly by the examples in the textbook. Snape glided over to examine their potion before nodding, the ghost of a smile on his lips,

"15 points to Slytherin for a perfectly pair of potions, Evans, and another 5 for managing an incompetent brewer in the process."

Alisha went to speak, only to feel Harry's shoe nudge her ankle, and she stopped.

"Thank you sir."

Snape nodded and dismissed the two, before turning to yell at Longbottom, who had yet again managed to melt another cauldron.

"So why is it that Snape calls you Evans?"

Harry turned to look at her as they climbed the stairs together, Harry leading the way as per normal.

"Snape and I have… well let's just say an unusual relationship… Snape was in love with Lily Evans, not to be confused with Lily Potter, as they are completely different women. When he was at school, he was relentlessly hounded and bullied by James Potter and Sirius Black, supported somewhat by Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. He and Lily Evans were friends before Hogwarts and remained friends until fifth year, when Snape made a lapse in judgement under stress from Potter and Black. He called Lily Evans a "mudblood." That was the end of that relationship, and possibly the starting point of my _parents_."

As usual Harry said parents as if he had bitten something extremely bitter,

"And now Lily Potter is an airheaded, prejudiced, spineless dimwit, whose only function in life is spoiling her precious boy, giving interviews and posing for pictures. Snape calls me Evans because he refuses to have a Potter in Slytherin, and because I remind him of Lily Evans, before she became Lily Potter. I take it as quite a complement, although James Potter, and such Thomas Potter, believe it is simply a sign that Snape "lusts" after Lily Potter." Harry finished, shaking his head, amused at the stupidity of the two.

"That's… weird I guess… the fact that a professor was in love with your mother, before she was your mother, and not quite the same woman as your mother, so he calls you by her maiden name to honour your-not-quite-mother's memory and complement you." Alisha looked lost by her train of thought and Harry laughed, directing her to a painting of a fruit bowl and tickled a pear, revealing a room full of bustling house elves.

"So this is the kitchens hey? How long have you been coming here to eat?"

"Oh about first year, when I realised that it might be safer to sometimes eat out of sight."

She gave him a sharp look but couldn't say anything further as he was suddenly swarmed by a squealing mass of small bodies. Apparently the Hogwarts house elves had become extremely attached to Harry and before she could say anything she was situated at a table with a wealth of delicious looking food in front of her.

"Wow, they must really love you." Alisha started to look through the abundance of food, trying to decide what she wanted to sample, as Harry simply took small bits of everything.

"Well they do have they're uses. Amazingly handy, and incredibly useful. Willing to do almost anything."

The house elves beamed at Harry and rushed off to continue their dinner preparation.

After both students were full Harry whispered in the ear of a house elf, who rushed off and brought him a small burlap sack, and he thanked them before moving off.

"I have to do something, I'll see you later."

Before Alisha could say anything Harry was out a service door that she hadn't even noticed, the door swinging shut behind him.

Alisha looked up at the clock above Professor Vector, and back down at her paper. Despite it being the very last class before the end of term the class had been set a test for them to complete, as to "assess their progress." Currently she was stuck on the final section, an especially devious set of interdependent questions that as far as she could tell, only Harry could figure out. Most of the class was sitting at their desks with varying levels of confusion and distress. Granger had snapped three quills, and was constantly scribbling something before crossing it out, throwing heated glares at Harry in between, who was quite happily working away.

Realising that she could do no-more Alisha slowly gave her previous work a cursory look-over to make sure that she had done nothing obviously wrong, and settled for staring at the wall.

She was jerked awake by Professor Vector calling to put quills down, which was met with grumbles about the test. Professor Vector merely smiled and waved her wand at the cupboard at the back of the room, which opened to reveal a barrel of butter beer with a collection of glasses beneath.

"I know that the test was difficult, and I do know how hard you have all worked, so I think you've all earnt a little party."

Alisha laughed as she saw Granger bemoaning the loss of class time and was still laughing at the girl when Harry pulled up next to her with two tankards of warm butterbeer.

"What's so funny?"

"Granger", Alisha pointed at the girl in question who fumed when she saw Alisha openly mocking her, causing Alisha to snort loudly and laugh harder.

Shaking his head at both Gryffindor girls, Harry pushed a butterbeer into Alisha's hand and pulled her towards the window, where a table had been pushed back, giving the pair a perfect place to sit comfortably and watch the snow fall, away from the others.

"Hey Harry, what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Staying at Hogwarts, nowhere else I can go is there?"

"You could come and stay with me you know."

Harry shook his head and Alisha was glad that he was looking away,

"No, Christmas is a time for family. I couldn't intrude."

"But they wouldn't min…"

"No. Like I said, you go and enjoy time with your family. I'm sure they miss seeing you."

"Wait hold on, you said that Christmas was a time for family, are you going to be with your parents and Thomas?"

"No."

"But you said…"

"I know what I said." Harry looked down at his hands, which were white from clutching the tankard. "Christmas is a time for family, and they've made that very clear. They will enjoy their precious family, same as every year."

Alisha looked away, embarrassed and knowing that Harry would only get moodier if she gave off any indication of pity. After a long silence between the pair, they both jumped when music suddenly blared out of someone's radio, with Celestina Warbeck filling the room. Harry gave a slightly bitter laugh and sipped his nearly empty tankard.

"So what are you going to do at Hogwarts while everyone else is gone?"

Harry shrugged,

"Hang around with Blaise, play cards, do the holiday work, murder some muggleborns, you know, the usual."

She punched his arm,

"You know I don't like those kind of jokes you arsehole."

He gave a wry smile and jostled her slightly before raising his tankard, indicating he was off to get a refill, and set off, collecting her tankard as well.

Alisha sat back and watched Susan Bones dancing slowly with Justin Finch-Fletchley and sighed, sitting back, 'why couldn't she find someone who would dance with her, and hold her that tenderly, and look at her like that.'

Alisha was brought of her thoughts by an angry looking Granger,

"Sorry what was that?"

Alisha's response only seemed to infuriate Hermione more, as she went red, huffed and looked like she wanted to explode, before taking a few deep breaths and looking coolly at Alisha,

"What?"

"I thought I told you to stay away from Harry Potter, obviously you've chosen to ignore me."

The other girl's poor attempt at sounding threatening was more amusing than effective, but Alisha didn't comment on it,

"I don't think you really have a right to tell me who I have as my friends, thank you very much."

"And I don't think you really have a right to be friends with him."

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are?"

"Someone who knows much more than you."

" _Really_ "

"Yes really." Granger leaned in, "You don't understand. Harry Potter is toxic, he's a parselmouth, he fraternises with the children of Death Eaters, he knows more dark magic than anyone else at this school, he obviously cheats in exams, and he attacks his brother, _The Boy-Who-Lived_. No normal person attacks their own brother, much less a brother who saved the wizarding world. If you hang around with Harry Potter, you're going to get dragged down with him. You're obviously smart enough Hillman, open your eyes, and start thinking for yourself."

"Well then, Miss I-Know-What-Is-Best-For-Everyone, I've got news for you. I am going to be friends with whoever the fuck I like. I don't give a damn what you think about Harry, and I am definitely not picking Thomas' side in their stupid fights, because I have heard all about what he and his parents have done to him."

"And who told you that? Huh? Harry? Ever think he's just manipulating you? Poor sob story to rationalize what he does?"

"And do you ever think that Thomas has done the same to you."

The two girls were glowering at each other, less than an inch apart.

"Well isn't this cozy? I apologise Granger, I didn't get you a drink, how rude of me."

The smile on Harry's face didn't reach his eyes.

"I don't want anything from _you_." Granger sneered, turning to face Alisha she gave a condescending look before stalking off.

"What was that all about?"

Alisha took her tankard from Harry and tipped her head back to have a long draught.

"Nothing Harry, absolutely nothing at all."


End file.
